His Eyes on Me
by Chryselis
Summary: While waiting for her child's birth, Raine decides to write a series of letters chronicling how she met Laguna Loire. Sequel to Your Eyes on Me.
1. How I named you Squall

Dear Squall,

If Ellone was still here, I know she'd say how weird it is to write you letters, instead of telling them in person.

Let me tell you a secret- mommy loves to write.

It's how you and your daddy got along in the first place.

Letters capture the feelings of the moment and I certainly I hope you'll feel what I'm feeling now.

As of writing this letter, I'm 36 weeks pregnant.

Perhaps if I moved to Deling City, I would have access to a modern facility with an ultrasonography. Perhaps I would be able to determine what your sex is.

But no.

I decided to stay here in Winhill.

It's where I was born, and it's where I'd want you to be born too.

The midwife has advised me to take regular walks to make the birth easier, but it's becoming more and more difficult to move around.

I'm as big as an old sow.

That, however, doesn't diminish the love I feel for you.

It's a little sad tour father never had the chance to learn about you.

Ellone, your older sister… your foster sister, actually, was kidnapped and Laguna promised me he would bring her back.

Three weeks after he left with Kiros and Ward, I started to have episodes of nausea and vomiting.

It was only I had myself checked by the town doctor that I realized I was five weeks pregnant.

If only Laguna had known about you before he left.

Now, I can only write letters, hoping that he'll be able to read them once he returns home.

I do hope he returns with Ellone by the time of your birth.

I think Ellone would love to have a little brother, and we can finally be the happy family I've always dreamt of.

When I was five months pregnant with you, I decided to think of baby names, and it was hard.

Really hard.

Ultimately, I found my answer.

Whether you're going to be born a girl or a boy, your name is going to be Squall, Squall Leonhart Loire.

Squall means a sudden violent gust of wind, and I'm not naming you because you're violent or what.

Though you did give me quite a discomfort with all your kicks and punches.

Your father's name is Laguna- it sounds similar to lagoon, a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water. My parents named me Raine… just like the rain.

No, I'm not naming you after another body of water.

I'm naming you after the element that seems to accompany the rain as it drifts to a lagoon…

It's so fitting.

Squall.

Isn't it a beautiful name?

One day, I want you to read the letters in front of me and your father and learn our love story, so that you'll appreciate your own love story with your partner.

So let me tell you the tale of how I met your father, but first, let me tell you about your older sister Ellone...

* * *

AN: This was originally titled His Eyes on Me (HEOM), the sequel to my 1st ff8 fic, Your Eyes on Me.

Although I had written HEOM a year ago, I could never finish it because it didn't feel right. I abandoned the story and wrote other stories instead. It wasn't until I read Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird that I had the inspiration to try and write Raine's story in a letter form… and the ideas poured like a geyser!

I hope you'll enjoy my take of Raine's story. I'm using the Succesor Challenge to finish the story Thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy!


	2. How I became a foster mother

Dear Squall,

I was born and raised in Winhill, a sleepy little town far from Galbadia's capital city of Deling.

Although it's in the middle of nowhere, the town has a gorgeous view of the city, and a field of flowers to stroll by.

I wonder what the original settlers were thinking when they chose to build a town here, right in the middle of nowhere. I'll never find my answers for sure.

Winhill has one of everything- One general shop, one clinic, one flowershop, one weapon shop…. You name it.

I, of course, ran the only tavern in this sleepy town.

Yes, your mother is a super woman.

I operated the pub, all alone.

All alone.

How cool of me, yes?

But I wasn't always alone. You see, my parents, or your grandparents, first established the tavern. After years of living in the beautiful yet polluted city of Deling, they decided to migrate into this beautiful little town in the middle of nowhere.

Mother was attracted to this town because of the field of flowers. Whenever she wasn't helping father, you could see her at the flower shop, talking to the nice old lady who operated it.

Your father, on the other hand, loved wine. Wine or beer, yes, you name it. Take the man from beer, but you cannot take the beer from the man, and so, he established the first tavern in Winhill.

And it became a hit with the locals, traveling merchants, wandering mercenaries and even the Galbadian soldiers who were stationed here.

But your grandparents died too soon.

Several years after they settled here, a cholera outbreak devastated Winhill, killing half of the five-hundred population. We were quickly becoming a ghost town.

My mother had passed away first, leaving me to care for my father. However, looking at my him, it was imminent he would follow her soon.

"Raine," he called for me. "Please take care of yourself."

I nodded.

"Take care of your mother's flowers."

I nodded again, brushing the tears from my eyes.

"Take care of my tavern."

I knew he loved me, his only daughter, but aside from me and mother, but it was amusing that even on his deathbed, he still thought about beer and wine.

I hoped someone would have same devotion for me, the same way my father had for wine.

That was how I became an orphan at the age of seventeen.

Left to fend for myself, I did my best to manage a tavern, no matter how daunting it was.

Didn't I tell you your mother is a superwoman?

No wonder your father fell in love with me.

Not long after the outbreak, war broke between Galbadia and Esthar and whatever men remained in our two hundred and fifty population was pulled out.

Winhill was truly now a ghost town, and at that time, believed I had to fail my father and close the business. He would've haunted me from his grave, reminding me of my promise. My only hope was to relocate to somewhere where his ghost couldn't even find me.

Of course, dreams were free and I just kept that a dream.

Monsters started to show in our streets, prompting the remaining residents to migrate to safer towns. I, however, remained in the middle of nowhere, caring for the tavern that no longer had customers.

Luckily, a couple moved next door. Like my parents, they too came from Deling City. They had a charming five-year old daughter named Ellone.

Yes, the same Ellone I mentioned in the previous letter.

"My name is Ellone, how about joo?"

 _Joo?_ "Raine Leonhart."

"She has a lisp." Her mother told me apologetically.

"No, I don't." Ellone cried.

Her mother ruffled the child's hair. "It's okay darling." Then she turned to me, "Do you live alone?"

"Yes. My parents recently died."

"Isn't it difficult to live by yourself?"

"I get by."

She gently tapped my shoulder. "You're always free to visit us if you need to talk to someone."

And so, Winhill was almost saved from the brink of extinction, thanks to the addition of three people.

They could've chosen Balamb, Dollet or Trabia, but I'm not complaining. If they hadn't moved here, I would have sold the tavern and moved elsewhere. So I have thank them for that.

But the happiness didn't last.

Months later, Esthar soldiers overpowered the Galbadian Army stationed here, invading our sleepy little town. Seriously, for what reason would they have for invading us?

You'd easily recognize the Esthar soldiers thanks to their bug-like suit of armor. They moved in packs, wielding scythe-like hammers. I wondered if they were truly humans, or insects because of how they looked.

Esthar was a nation in another continent, led by the Sorceress Adel. From what I learned in World History, there are quite a few Sorceress left in this world, and the remaining ones wielded tremendous power.

Esthar soldiers barged in my tavern, looking for any signs of a child. Apparently, the reason why they invaded Winhill was because Adel demanded to kidnap all children in the world.

Crazy sorceress, huh?

Since Deling was located on the northwestern side of the Galbadian continent, Esthar took its time to invade us- the town located on the southeastern part of the continent.

What a bummer.

Because they couldn't find any child, the best thing the soldiers did was wreck everything.

The chairs and tables were upturned, and the bottles I kept were smashed into pieces. .

At least they discover my secret underground inventory of wines.

When they finally left, I remembered Ellone and her family. I heard the cries of children forcibly taken from their families, and I feared for Ellone and her parents. There was a secret door connecting our residences, and I used to enter their house.

Ellone was still sleeping in her room when I entered. Her parents had entered. You could hear the banging sounds on the door downstairs.

"How did you get here?" Ellone's mother asked.

"There's a secret passage connecting our houses."

The husband and wife looked at each other for a moment. Finally, Ellone's father gazed at me, "Please take our daughter with you."

"But what about you?"

"We'll stall them."

"The secret door is this cabinet, " I said, pointing to the corner, "I'll wait for you when the soldiers have left.."

Her parents kissed and hugged Ellone, before giving me their daughter, and I vanished behind the secret passage.

I heard screaming and gunshots….

And then silence.

Ellone had slept through the ordeal.

I didn't dare return to her room, unless I risked everything.

A reinforcement Galbadian soldiers arrived, but everything was too late. Ellone's parents were dead, and I was left alone to care for a five-year old child.

* * *

 **AN: Yes, I did change the title. It's no longer Dear Squall. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	3. How I got entagled in a love triangle

Dear Squall,

It was difficult explaining to Ellone that her parents were dead.

"They must be sweeping." She lisped during the mass burial the remaining townspeople held. "They'ww wake up, wight?"

Ellone was the only child saved from the raid. Most of the town children had been taken, and the fact Ellone had survived meant some families were bitter.

I tried to shield her from the people's bitterness, but in the end, I allowed them whatever they wanted to think.

I explained to Ellone that her parents had died in protecting her, and that I was her new guardian, and she took it with great enthusiasm.

The slow and peaceful life in Winhill resumed, as if Esthar hadn't invaded our town at all. Ellone took her time to help me with the tavern, no matter how much I discouraged her not to. Often times, she would pass through the secret passageway connecting her old home and my house. Perhaps it was her own way of connecting with her parents.

Several weeks had passed again, and Ellone pestered me to take a stroll outside. Winhill wasn't safe as it used to be. Sometimes, caterchipillars roamed the countryside and found themselves on our roads. I could kill one if I wanted to, but killing a monster in front of a child was a different story.

We were strolling by the town plaza, when Ellone suddenly looked down the river bank. She tugged the hem of my pants, calling my attention.

"Aunt Waine! Thewe's a dead body floating acwoss the wiver."

"What dead body?"

My gaze lingered at the slumped figure floating on the river, and I recognized tattered Galbadian uniform. That was the first time I saw your father, he was all bruised and wounded you could hardly recognize the pretty face.

I called for help and we brought him to my residence where we tried to clean him up. Beneath the wounds and bruises, he was a surprisingly handsome man. He wore his hair beyond his shoulders, and he looked like a pretty boy.

I looked for any identification tag, and finally learned his name- Captain Laguna Loire from Alfa Company.

We had already contacted the Galbadian Army, and it was just a matter of time before they came to retrieve your father. For the meantime, I took care of him, changing his bandages, cleaning his wounds. He was still unconscious, but that didn't stop him from making loud noises. Either he snored or he mumbled incoherent words. I couldn't understand his ramblings, but I did hear the distinct name of a woman. Perhaps a sweetheart he left behind?

I found my answers two days later.

I tended your father's wounds when I hear the door being pounded. Ellone had just fallen asleep and I didn't want a cranky five-year old crying in the middle of midnight. I rushed downstairs and opened the door, only to be greeted by a company of Galbadian soldiers.

"Good evening, Miss. Our General would like to see Captain Laguna Loire."

I looked at the men. "Please don't bring your weapons inside. There's a child in here."

The soldier looked flustered.

"It's alright." A deep voice said. "The rest will wait outside."

A man stepped forward as the men stepped aside. He was tall. Imposing, to correctly describe him and appeared to be in his middle thirties.

He couldn't hold a candle to the sleeping figure on the second floor of my father's room

"I'm General Fury Caraway." He introduced himself. "I understand you've saved one of my men. Thank you for that. I would like to see his condition now."

"It's my pleasure."

Somehow, I felt that his gratitude wasn't sincere. Truth is, I found it strange that they didn't take the Captain away, or why that comatose man merited this General's visit.

So I brought him to your father who was still sleeping in the spare guestroom. A single candle illuminated the room and against the flicking candlelight, I saw how Caraway looked at your father.

I had never seen a look filled with such hate and contempt.

"Has he regained consciousness?"

I shook my head. "He cries for a name though."

"What name?"

" _Julia."_

Caraway's body stiffened, his lips forming into an unpleasant line. I realized, then and there my child, that your father had done something to this man, and it had something to do with a woman named Julia. I sensed a love triangle and it was unfortunate that the General was now in a favorable disposition to eliminate his rival.

"You don't want him to wake, do you?"

"What makes you say that?" he asked, not looking surprised.

"I'm not that stupid. I know you're not on good terms with him because of a woman. Whenever we found wounded Galbadian soldiers, your army would whisk them away. But you've left this man under my care for several days now."

He chuckled. "For a woman in the middle of nowhere, you're surprisingly perceptive. Indeed, there's a particular woman I want to win over, and this man," Caraway glanced at me, before turning to face Laguna's sleeping form again. "Is in the way."

"You don't mean to kill him inside my home, do you?"

"I'm not that barbaric."

"So will you kill him elsewhere?"

He actually smiled. Despite the harshness of his features, he had a trace of charm. "Why are you so obsessed with his death?"

"Aren't you?"

"I recognize the efforts of a good man, and Laguna Loire is definitely a good man."

"So what are you planning then?"

"Hasn't anyone told you you're a nosy woman?"

"I'm not like most women."

Perhaps he was so amused with me, that he actually laughed. I found it discomforting that a man like him could have a rich deep laughter. "I've looked into your records. Orphaned at the age of seventeen, and you've lived alone until you adopted the child of your neighbors after they were killed. You're an admirable woman."

My eyes narrowed. "and?"

"I've heard there's shortage of men in Winhill."

"Thanks to the war you waged with Esthar."

"And you've never had a man in your life." He looked at me with a calculating gleam in his eyes. "Why don't you take this man for yourself?"

"And make him fall in love with me? Are you stupid or what? You can't make a person for all in love with you."

A smile slowly crept into his face. "Think about it. it's not every day that a pretty boy falls and lands on your doorstep." At least the General recognized your father's physical attributes. "Think about it, you have a little girl to raise, and all that's left is a man to complete the picture."

He was an obstinate man. I had never known or met this Julia they were fighting over. If I had known her, then I would have understood this man's desire to eliminate Laguna out of the picture. But I didn't, and I appealed to him once again. He, of course, refused to listen.

"If you don't agree, then I suppose I could take the sleeping child in the other room and hand her over to Esthar."

"You wouldn't."

"But I would." He answered smoothly.

At that moment, I had never felt helpless and a pure hatred for him. That he would use an innocent child, and he would prey on my weakness, to take advantage of the situation and use it for his own benefit.

No wonder that Julia favored the sleeping captain. This man's attitude was rotten to the core.

"Don't you believe in karma?" I asked, wondering if he cared the consequences of his actions.

He snorted. "It doesn't matter when she's finally mine." No other words were spoken after that, and he left.

I sunk to the floor, pondering over that night's event. Caraway's order was quite clear. Your father wasn't to return to Deling until he had won Julia. That General would stoop to anything just to have what he wanted, and he wanted that Julia, period.

I knew how selfish Caraway's request was, and I knew how selfish I was to accept it. I had kept telling myself I was doing it for Ellone's protection.

But in the end, my heart knew it was a different story, because I was doing it for my own selfish interest.

Looking back, I have to shamefully admit that if I didn't agree with him, your father would have left me and returned to the woman he left in Deling City. Yes, I may be a superwoman, but I'm not perfect.

I had to make your father fall in love with me.


End file.
